posted 11-29-2006 10:38 AM
My daughter was watching the movie "The Santa Clause" on TV the other night. In the take-your-father-to-school scene I was quite surprised to see what looked like a Mercury space suit in the back of the classroom. It did not have any active part in the scene. I didn't watch more of the movie but cannot imagine that it was more than just set dressing, but it seemed an unusual choice.

Has anyone else seen space stuff show up in odd places on TV, movies or real life?

John K. RochesterMember

Posts: 1280From: Rochester, NY, USARegistered: Mar 2002

posted 11-29-2006 02:12 PM
"Gilmore Girls" used an Estes Mercury-Atlas in one of their story lines earlier this year.

Of course Dr Romano of "ER "had model Saturn V rockets in his office (the same actor who played Pete Conrad in the Apollo 12 episode of FTETTM).

ea757grrlMember

Posts: 613From: South CarolinaRegistered: Jul 2006

posted 11-29-2006 04:07 PM
Lou Dobbs kept/keeps (I don't know, I haven't watched for a while) a model of a Space Shuttle full stack on one of the shelves in the background on the set of his CNN program.

Robert PearlmanEditor

Posts: 30197From: Houston, TXRegistered: Nov 1999

posted 11-29-2006 04:18 PM
Not so much memorabilia, but if you watch reruns of the Drew Carey Show, for many seasons his cubicle at work included a bumper sticker "I'm PRO-Space and I Vote!" with the National Space Society's phone number and website URL.

BenMember

Posts: 1860From: Daytona Beach, FLRegistered: May 2000

posted 11-29-2006 05:27 PM
After the first episode with shuttle crewmembers (STS-61) on Home Improvement, a crew signed photo of Hubble above the payload bay was placed on the set's kitchen wall for the remainder of the series.

It's easily visible in many episodes.

RickMember

Posts: 302From: Yadkinville, NCRegistered: Jun 2000

posted 11-29-2006 05:36 PM
In the greatest TV series ever, "Freaks and Geeks," Bill Haverchuck attempts to launch a model of a Mercury Atlas rocket.

It doesn't go over too well...

randyMember

Posts: 1452From: West Jordan, Utah USARegistered: Dec 1999

posted 11-29-2006 08:14 PM
If you look closely at the background in one of the scenes in Men In Black II, there are pictures of Jim Lovell (in particular) and other astronauts and space memorabilia on the wall of one of the places where they are trying to restore Tommy Lee Jones' characters memory.

polheineyMember

Posts: 93From: Hagerstown, MD, USRegistered: Oct 2006

posted 11-29-2006 08:55 PM
This may be a little obscure, but in the liner notes of the 5-disc Sufjan Stevens Christmas album released last tuesday (11/21) Sufjan can be seen wearing a hat with a picture of a shuttle on it.

FutureAstronautMember

Posts: 372From: East Northport, NYRegistered: Mar 2006

posted 11-29-2006 10:34 PM
In the CBS show "NCIS", they have a shuttle launch picture in the headquarters. You can see it in nearly every episode.

Hart SastrowardoyoMember

Posts: 2521From: Toms River, NJRegistered: Aug 2000

posted 11-30-2006 07:28 AM
In real life, one of the Barnegat Township schools has a poster of New Jersey (taken by the STS-3 crew), signed by Terry Hart. Must have been during a visit by him, although I've never asked when that was. (Understand that Barnegat has more than one elementary school, so I'm curious as to why that particular school has the poster, unless he visited the other schools and those posters are just not on display.)

mmmooMember

Posts: 449From: London, EnglandRegistered: May 2001

posted 11-30-2006 09:21 AM
In a new Paramount movie coming next summer called 'Drillbit Taylor' written by John Hughes of 'Home Alone' fame. I was contacted by the production designer to provide them with 2 Moonpans lunar surface panoramic posters to dress the set.

The story is about a boy who contacts a hitman played by 'Owen Wilson' to protect him from the school bully.

As the boy is a bit of a geek, they thought Lunar Surface posters would be appropriate for his bedroom wall!!

Mike ZMember

Posts: 451From: Ellicott City, MarylandRegistered: Dec 2005

posted 11-30-2006 11:57 AM
I live just outside Columbia, Maryland. We often have to go to the main Library in Columbia. Just as you walk in, there is a framed Flown American Flag on a presentation card with the STS-1 Crew photo stating that, "This flag was flown on Columbia STS-1" and it's personally signed by Young and Crippen.

NC Apollo FanNew Member

Posts: From: Registered:

posted 11-30-2006 11:57 AM
This has been mentioned on cS in the past, but perhaps not everyone caught the post. Led Zepplin released a two-disc compilation (Early Days and Latter Days) a few years back with a cover that shows Plant and crew wearing Apollo 14 space suits. With four members I always wondered where they planned to put the extra seat.

AstronautBrianMember

Posts: 236From: Madisonville, Louisiana, U.S.A.Registered: Jan 2006

posted 11-30-2006 12:06 PM
When my wife and I were in the process of moving back to the U.S. from Australia we had to make a couple of trips to the U.S. Consulate in Sydney. Hanging in one of the waiting rooms were two presentations - one was a flown patch and another a flown flag - from two space shuttle missions. I cannot remember which missions they were, but they were from the mid-90's.

BlackarrowMember

Posts: 2226From: Belfast, United KingdomRegistered: Feb 2002

posted 11-30-2006 04:47 PM
Hardly memorabilia, but I've landed (twice) on a space shuttle emergency landing strip, on Easter Island, in the middle of the Pacific. In fact, if the original landing strip hadn't been extended by NASA, I couldn't have gone there.

Steve ProcterMember

Posts: 1004From: Leeds, Yorkshire, UKRegistered: Oct 2000

posted 11-30-2006 04:53 PM
I recall seeing an Apollo 11 crew photo on the wall of a military museum set in an episode of 'Columbo'

"Just one more question..."

tncmaxqMember

Posts: 266From: New Haven, CT USARegistered: Oct 2001

posted 12-01-2006 02:04 PM
Anyone see Jeopardy! last night (Nov 29) by any chance? In the first round the categories were Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, End-Ever, and Nassau. Only the Discovery category was actually about the space shuttle. I thought that was interesting. I suppose most viewers didn't get the connection though.

RickMember

Posts: 302From: Yadkinville, NCRegistered: Jun 2000

posted 12-01-2006 03:59 PM
I forgot this one until just now. A couple of years ago, I was a guest on the "John Boy and Billy" syndicated radio show out of Charlotte. Hanging in the lobby, along with numberous other photos and memorabilia from their career, was a flag that had been flown on the Shuttle.

I don't recall which flight or what kind of flag it was (U.S., state or NASA), but I do remember wanting to yank it off the wall and run.

cliffordMember

Posts: 223From: Maplewood, nj, 07040Registered: Aug 2000

posted 12-04-2006 08:36 AM
There is a local irish pub in South Orange, NJ called Cryans. On the wall as you walk in and down the stairs, behind a piece of plexi that is screwed to the wall, is an autographed photo of Jim Irwin. The famous one of him on the moon next to the LM. Usually this photo has a pre-printed line, "with his love..." but this one is personalized. I asked if anyone knew anything about it or what it was worth, but no-one knew anything about.

ScottMember

Posts: 3301From: Houston, TXRegistered: May 2001

posted 12-04-2006 09:58 AM
Several years ago I asked the human resources lady where I worked for the name of a good dentist. She gave me one, a few miles up the road from me. I was waiting in his personal office for the initial consultation and before he came in I noticed on the wall a huge framed photo of Gene Cernan saluting the flag at Taurus-Littrow. If I recall it was inscribed something like, "Al, I'll never look this good again but thanks anyway for trying. Gene" I asked the Dr about it when he came back in and he said, "Oh yeah. Gene's a friend. I was in the Air Force in the 60s, was the dentist for Ellington Field and worked on the astronauts. He still comes here."

Hart SastrowardoyoMember

Posts: 2521From: Toms River, NJRegistered: Aug 2000

posted 12-04-2006 01:09 PM
Star Trek: The Next Generation has an episode called "The Royale," where the crew finds the remains of a 21st-century NASA ship. The patch on the uniform did not bear the name of the NASA crewmember found, was rather was a modified Apollo 17 patch (with the Apollo word removed) and bearing the names Cernan, Evans and Schmitt!

AstronautBrianMember

Posts: 236From: Madisonville, Louisiana, U.S.A.Registered: Jan 2006

posted 12-05-2006 08:41 AM
Last night, I had a dream that I was at my aunt's house in her attic. Up there, there was a large mural of Apollo painted on the wall. I thought to myself in the dream "I need to post that on the "odd places" thread!"

WAWalshMember

Posts: 804From: Cortlandt Manor, NYRegistered: May 2000

posted 12-05-2006 11:05 AM
"The West Wing" had a number of episodes with a space focus or theme (including a probe to Mars, difficulties with shuttle in orbit and a secret military shuttle) and space-related photos and computer wallpaper tended to appear in Leo's (John Spencer) office.

As for some nice collection pieces that caught my attention, a dentist's office in White Plains would probably be the "oddest" place that I have seen a small portion of a collection displayed.

Robert PearlmanEditor

Posts: 30197From: Houston, TXRegistered: Nov 1999

posted 12-05-2006 11:13 AM
I had forgotten about this until I came across an old e-mail last night: While on tour, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Starship had one of the Skylab tank insulation pyramids on stage with him (until such time that it was stolen, which was why I learned of it -- they were trying to find a replacement).

Hart SastrowardoyoMember

Posts: 2521From: Toms River, NJRegistered: Aug 2000

posted 01-30-2007 07:53 AM
On board the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn, Deck 12 forward, starboard side.... They have plaques from various ports when they made their first calling. One of those plaques is from Port Canaveral, with a "first flight" Discovery medallion attached (and yes, I left it hanging on the ship)....

GlintMember

Posts: 818From: New Windsor, Maryland USARegistered: Jan 2004

posted 01-30-2007 09:59 AM
If surprising places where one wasn't expecting to see space memorabilia counts as an "odd place" then I'd like to add this one.

A few years ago I was strolling through the US Naval Acadamy's visitor's center, while the rest of my party was busy in the gift shop, I was blown away to find myself standing in front of Alan Shepard's Freedom Seven Mercury capsule. The way in which it was displayed was particularly interesting because the periscope is in extended position and I'd always wondered how it worked.

RickMember

Posts: 302From: Yadkinville, NCRegistered: Jun 2000

posted 01-31-2007 07:02 AM
I just came across this one the other day while watching the second season of "The West Wing" on DVD. White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry has one of the famous Apollo 15 "saltuing the flag" photographs as the screen saver on his computer.

There were also a couple of storylines about the Space Shuttle that played major roles. Toby's brother was a mission specialist on a Shuttle that was having trouble landing in the first season, and Toby's leaking of the top-secret military Shuttle led to his firing in seasons six and seven.

BMacKinnonMember

Posts: 171From: Waterford, MI. USARegistered: Jul 2007

posted 12-25-2008 09:35 PM
My family and I stopped in at Tony Packo's in Toledo and came across the image of Don Thomas and a signed hot dog bun among the hundreds of signed buns on the wall.

They also had an image of a can of Tony Packo's Chili in space.

FYI - Tony Packo's was made famous by Jamie Farr the actor who is from Toledo and he mentioned it several times playing the character of Corporal Klinger on the TV show MASH.

MarylandSpaceMember

Posts: 1057From: Registered: Aug 2002

posted 12-26-2008 12:30 PM
Thank you for reviving this topic. I enjoy it.

spacemanMember

Posts: 974From: Walsall, West Midlands, UKRegistered: Dec 2002

posted 12-26-2008 03:14 PM
Just received a boxed set of the first series of 'I Dream of Jeannie' (a favourite from my childhood). In the first episode they show video of the launch of astronaut Nelson - using Mercury Atlas footage. In the second episode when they recap; it has changed to a Gemini launch video.

Don't worry I'm not expecting great technical accuracy, it was for laughs and probably inspired many a kid at the time. I seem to remember the NASA space centre walls being adorned with launch vehicle and other great space photos.

RickMember

Posts: 302From: Yadkinville, NCRegistered: Jun 2000

posted 12-26-2008 04:54 PM

quote:Originally posted by Rick:In the greatest TV series ever, "Freaks and Geeks," Bill Haverchuck attempts to launch a model of a Mercury Atlas rocket.

Also, one of the freaks, Nick, dreams of being a rock and roll drummer. He has a hard-nosed father who serves in the Air Force. In one of their confrontations, Mr. Andopolis tells his son that he wanted to be an astronaut, but adds "You don't see any moon rocks laying around here, do you?"

If you've never seen the show, and you attended high school (especially during the late '70s-early '80s), you owe it to yourself to pick the series up on DVD. It's absolutely hysterical, not because of any silly slapstick hijinks, but because you KNEW the characters and the situations.

saturn1bMember

Posts: 136From: Westcliffe, CORegistered: Jun 2006

posted 12-28-2008 12:30 PM
Just the other day I caught a re-run of The King Of Queens and in the episode where Spence & Danny are fighting over who gets the bigger bedroom, they have the NASA poster of all the different rockets on the wall.

TRSMember

Posts: 609From: Wellington, New ZealandRegistered: Mar 2003

posted 01-05-2009 05:13 AM
Can't remember the name of the supermarket or the street (perhaps Colin B can help), but Gordo Cooper added a handprint to the wall of fame outside a supermarket window in downtown Melbourne Australia at some point. Sharon and I found it purely by accident when we first visited in 2000.

David BryantMember

Posts: 967From: Norfolk UKRegistered: Feb 2005

posted 01-05-2009 06:33 AM
I was walking around the National Space Centre in Leicester (Yeah: right! LOL!) and noticed that Buzz Aldrin had written his name on a WSS cardboard cutout of himself. I pointed the sig out to the curator I was with and he was blissfully unaware of it!

cliffordMember

Posts: 223From: Maplewood, nj, 07040Registered: Aug 2000

posted 01-06-2009 01:51 PM
At the imaging center where I go for Xrays, posted on the wall in a hallway towards the back (not the waiting room or some other more public place) is a large photo of the blue angles in flight, and on the matt surrounding it is the preprinted names of the pilots, and under each one it is signed (total of 8 names). It is dated 2002, and inscribed to the center, not to a doctor, or other person. Strange...

Rob SumowskiMember

Posts: 466From: Macon, GeorgiaRegistered: Feb 2000

posted 01-06-2009 03:13 PM
During the series ER, actor Paul Crane, who played the hot-tempered Dr. Robert Romano, kept a model of a Saturn V on the book shelf behind his desk. You may remember Paul Crane also as the actor who played Pete Conrad in From the Earth to the Moon.

sts205cdrMember

Posts: 587From: Sacramento, CARegistered: Jun 2001

posted 01-07-2009 12:16 PM
I was walking past a doctor's office in the hospital where I work and spotted models of a NASA T-38 and a Shuttle Training Aircraft displayed on his filing cabinet. On one wall was a large framed collection of NASA patches. It turns out he had worked at JSC and had just missed the cut in the 1997 astronaut selection process.

manilajimMember

Posts: 256From: Bergenfield, NJ USARegistered: May 2000

posted 01-07-2009 05:28 PM
In one of the backstage areas of Carnegie Hall in NYC there are big NASA logo stickers on 2 doors.

albatronMember

Posts: 2195From: Stuart, Florida, USARegistered: Jun 2000

posted 01-07-2009 07:40 PM

quote:Originally posted by Rob Sumowski:During the series ER, actor Paul Crane, who played the hot-tempered Dr. Robert Romano, kept a model of a Saturn V on the book shelf behind his desk.